Amazing Grace

A Miracle of Grace

2 Chronicles 33:1-20; 2 Kings 21:1-18

Online Sermon: http://www.mckeesfamily.com/?page_id=3567

“Grace is the dimension of divine activity that enables God to confront human indifference and rebellion with an inexhaustible capacity to forgive and to bless.” Does this mean that God would have forgiven the likes of Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Vlad the Impaler, Pol Pot, Saddam Hussein and Ivan the Terrible had they repented of their evil deeds? Surely God’s justice would demand eternal damnation for the rapes, tortures and genocides these men had committed? It is hard enough to imagine the thief on the cross in paradise much less those who have committed such atrocities! And yet if we do not believe that the blood of Christ atones for all types of sins then we as Christians are left in a gloomy pit of despair wondering if our thoughts, words and deeds constitute the “unpardonable sin” that despite our cries “will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come” (Matthew 12:32). The following sermon is going to trace the sins, discipline, repentance and God’s gracious forgiveness of one of the most evilest kings Judah ever had in order to provoke hope in our hearts that God is full of grace and is always willing to forgive those who confess with a repentant, contrite heart!

Hezekiah’s Life and Grace

Hezekiah was king of Judah from 715-687 B.C.E. He took over the throne from his father Ahaz at the age of 25 (2 Chronicles 29:1). Unlike his great-great-great-grandfather David Ahaz did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord (28:1). He worshipped the Baals, burned sacrifices in the Valley of Ben Hinnon, sacrificed his children in the fire and did other detestable practices of the Canaanite nations (28:2-3). Despite the wicked example his father set when his son Hezekiah came to power, he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. He reformed Israel’s religion by removing the high places, shattering sacred pillars, cutting down the Asherah poles (31:1-3) and refurbished and purified the temple (29:15). God prospered Hezekiah (31:21) and even sent an angel to defeat Sennacherib king of Assyria when he threaten to attack them (32:20-23). Hezekiah who became highly regarded by all nations soon became proud and the Lord struck him with an illness (31:24) of which Isiah said would be fatal (2 Kings 20:1). In response to his punishment Hezekiah repented and God forgave and granted him another 15 years to his life (20:6) and blessed him with great wealth and many building projects (32:27-30).

Parents of Evil Children

In the third of the last fifteen years of his reign God granted Hezekiah a son, Manasseh. The Psalmist said, “children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from Him” (27:3). After having two beautiful children I can honestly say that they can be “the joy of our hearts and the flowers of our homes.” Upon Manasseh’s birth I can only imagine the joy and relief in Hezekiah’s heart that an heir to the throne had finally been born! While his future occupation was secured, i.e. king of Judah, Hezekiah probably also hoped in his heart that the religious reforms that he had started would continue and be perfected under his son’s rein. While Hezekiah hoped to pass on his love for God to his child, Manasseh took after his grandfather Ahaz and did evil in the sight of the Lord. Manasseh’s name rightly signified “forgetfulness” for he chose to forget that God was the source of the nation’s blessings but instead chose to chase after the gods and creeds of the very nations that God destroyed for their sins when Israel entered the promised land! Had Hezekiah known about his son’s evil passions and propensity to go against the Lord Spurgeon suggests he might have gladly succumbed to his illness rather than be the father of the evilest king of Judah’s history.

Manasseh’s Evil

Manasseh became king at age 12 and ruled for 55 years, the longest reigning king of either Judah or Israel. Even though he came out of a godly home Manasseh had an ungodly hatred for God! Whatever his “father built up for God” he not only pulled down but became so wicked that the Canaanite nations had nothing on Manasseh, he far surpassed their evil. Even though the first of the Ten Commandments was to have no other god but YHWH (Exodus 20:3-5), Manasseh chose to reset up the Asherah poles in high places and erected altars to Baal (33:3). Not being content with just worshipping neighboring gods, he imported from Assyria and Babylon worshipping the hosts of heavens (33:3), which was specifically prohibited in passages such as Deuteronomy 4:19, 17:3. Despite knowing that Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu were executed by God for offering strange fire in His temple (Leviticus 10:1-3), Manasseh decided to “insult God to His face” by setting up altars to foreign gods inside His temple to “breed the evil of idolatry and poison the nation with the sin of idolatry (1 Sam. 15:23; cf. Ex. 20:3–4).